Thread: Choosing a knife?

Being relatively new to the hunting scene myself, i hadn't a clue what to get in terms if a knife when i started out.
But i've read a lot and talked to a lot of people about the subject so ill share with you what i have found out

A field dressing knife and skinning knife are technically 2 different style knives but having said that, with a little skill you can do both jobs with either knife.
A field dressing knife should be short, around 12cm long or shorter with a slight curve and pointed tip, i prefer a fixed blade knife to a folding one, i just wouldn't feel uncomfortable applying as much pressure to a folding knife that i do to a fixed blade, you can do yourself some serious harm if the locking mechanism failed
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Skinning knife should be larger with a substantial curve, the idea being that you use more of the knives edge and therefore it doesn't become blunted so quickly
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You can unnecessary spend a small fortune on knives so don't go out and spend $100+ on your 1st knife (you wouldn't buy a brand new Merc to learn to drive in would you!), also don't buy cheap and nasty as it will let you down when you need it the most, in essence you do get what you pay for.
For a beginner i would suggest a cheap model of a good quality brand, i bought the 'Cold Steel Finnbear' for $35 and im quite happy with it, its nothing fancy but it does the job and if i loose it in the bush it won't cost much to replace.

I agree with CreepingDeath, don't get sucked into fancy gimmicks like a gut hooks and blaze orange camo handles (no-one will be impressed when you whip out a fancy shinny knife in the hut).
Learn how to dress, skin and butcher a deer properly without aides such as gut hooks etc its not the knife that butchers the animal but the skills of the guy using it, also buy a good quality stone from you local hardware store and learn how to sharpen a knife, its a skill that will be with you for the rest of your life and i reckon its more satisfying that way too.

Finally, chose something that you realy like!, sounds silly but your Knife is a very personal thing so don't buy something close to what you want becasue it was on sale as you may end up lementing over the decision only to buy the knife you really wanted in the 1st place.
Some people will have guncases full of rilfes, but they will only use 1 knife out when hunting!.

That my 2c worth.